I have worn out more than one copy of the LANGENSCHEIDT GERMAN COMPACT DICTIONARY, but that's no criticism: these sturdy little guys are designed for mistreatment and mobility.

Let me map out the path of disintegration: the spine of the book eventually detaches from the signature yellow front and back panels. However, duct tape does wonderfully for extending the life for another year or two. My current copy is held together by nostalgia-inducing tape from a luggage repair shop in London Heathrow airport.

You don't want the compact LANGENSCHEIDT for home or office use, but it's perfect for taking to class, on the train, etc.

LANGENSCHEIDT quality speaks for itself, and is consistent across the range of languages its dictionaries cover.

You can't get a better compact bilingual dictionary.

This is a nice compact dictionary with most of everything you need. One size above this would be better because it has more words and is in an easier print to read. If I had to choose again, though, I would choose the bigger one.